Campuses and locations
In addition to the Fairbanks campus, ÎÞÂëÂÒÂ× has five community and rural campuses: the Bristol Bay Campus in Dillingham, Chukchi Campus in Kotzebue, Interior Alaska Campus in Fairbanks, Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel, and the Northwest Campus in Nome. These branches are central to fulfilling the ÎÞÂëÂÒÂ× mission of providing educational opportunities throughout the state. Credits earned at any ÎÞÂëÂÒÂ× campus or center are recognized at all ÎÞÂëÂÒÂ× campuses, meaning that students may change campuses and transfer all UA credits.
Rural Campus Leadership
![Wanda Wahl](/rural/images/campuses/directors/bbc-WWahl-headshot.jpeg)
![Minnie Naylor](/chukchi/images/headshots/Minnie.2019.jpg)
Minnie Naylor
Director
Chukchi Campus
Interim Director, Northwest Campus
![Julie Biddle](/rural/images/campuses/directors/iac-JBiddle-headshot.jpg)
![Haley Hanson](/bethel/images/staff-faculty-hs/H.Hanson_6.jpeg)
The Bristol Bay Campus serves southwest Alaska: Bristol Bay, the Aleutians, and the
Pribilof islands. There are 32 rural communities in the Bristol Bay region within
a 55,000-square-mile area. There are 12 coastal communities served between the Aleutian
archipelago, lower Alaska Peninsula, the Shumagin Islands, and the Pribilof Islands.
The campus' administrative center is in Dillingham (about 322 air miles from Anchorage
and 570 air miles from Fairbanks).
The campus offers in person classes in the service area and connects students to virtual/online
educational opportunities housed within the College of Indigenous Studies as well
as ÎÞÂëÂÒÂ×, UAA, and UAS. Headcount at the Bristol Bay Campus is around 350 students a
semester.
Another program based out of Dillingham is the Alaska Adult Education Program which
provides Bristol Bay adult learners the skills needed to prepare them for employment,
vocational training, or postsecondary education. In addition, the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program agent does outreach and
provides technical assistance programs to help Alaskans wisely use, conserve, and
enjoy Alaska’s marine and coastal resources.
The Chukchi Campus is located 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle on the shores of the Chukchi Sea. The campus serves Kotzebue and 10 villages in a region of more than 36,000 square miles. Chukchi offers Associate of Arts as well as Associate of Applied Science degrees, and courses leading to baccalaureate degrees in education, rural development and social work. Courses are offered by local instructors and through the College of Indigenous Studies audio-conferencing and live Internet instructional systems.
The Interior Alaska Campus in Fairbanks serves 46 communities and villages in the Doyon and Tanana Chiefs regions throughout the interior of Alaska, an area about the size of France. The Interior Alaska Campus is the most decentralized of the ÎÞÂëÂÒÂ× campuses. Although the director’s office and some faculty are located in Fairbanks, there are Interior Alaska Campus staff in Anchorage, Fort Yukon, Kenai Peninsula and Tok. Courses are offered online and by audio conference, on site by local or visiting instructors, and via intensive sessions in Fairbanks and Anchorage. The campus offers a range of degree programs, including occupational endorsements, certificates, and Associate of Arts and Associate of Applied Science degrees. English tutors are available for all students taking courses through the campus.
The Kuskokwim Campus is located in Bethel and serves approximately 25,000 people in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, which includes 47 remote Alaska Native Yup’ik and Cup’ik Eskimo and Athabaskan villages with 56 tribes in a 57,000-square-mile-area the size of Illinois. Bethel is a community of about 6,000 people 80 miles inland on the Kuskokwim River. KuC also operates one remote learning center based in Hooper Bay, a Yup’ik Eskimo community of 1,000 on the Bering Sea coast. KuC offers academic, vocational and community interest courses, as well as courses leading to associate, baccalaureate and master’s degrees, including a Bachelor of Arts degree in Yup’ik language and culture, the home language of many families in the region. The Emerging Scholars Program assists all full-time freshmen in the transition to college, both academically and socially, and in the completion of certificates and degrees. Students may attend classes on campus and through distance delivery. Housing on campus is available in Sackett Hall, which provides suites with space for four students in each.
Northwest Campus is located in Nome, a community of 3,500 that is the service hub for the 15 villages of the Bering Strait region. This 44,000-square-mile region extends from Shishmaref on the northern edge of the Seward Peninsula to Stebbins on the southern rim of Norton Sound. It includes communities on St. Lawrence and Little Diomede islands. The area contains 570 miles of coastline, which includes all of Norton Sound and portions of the Bering and Chukchi seas.
The Northwest Campus serves a total population of nearly 10,000. Certificates and associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees are offered to the region’s residents, with courses taught both traditionally and by distance delivery. The campus responds to vocational, business development, cultural preservation and academic needs of the Bering Strait region. Many courses, programs and degrees are offered in cooperation with regional health and tribal organizations, school districts and corporations. Northwest Campus offers the high latitude range management certificate program supporting reindeer herding and husbandry.